Contrasting usage and spatial profiles of free-floating S-pedelec and dock-based pedelec sharing in Basel: A longitudinal system-level comparison

Electric bike-sharing systems (EBSS) are a prominent form of urban micromobility, but evidence on how free-floating and dock-based designs compare within the same city is scarce. We present a longitudinal within-city comparison of two EBSS in the Basel metropolitan area (Switzerland): a free-floating S-pedelec service (FFEBSS; assist up to 45 km/h) and a dock-based pedelec service (DBEBSS; up to 25 km/h). Each is a bundled configuration : the two differ simultaneously in docking logic, vehicle class and speed, service-area extent, market-entry timing and tariffs, so we read every contrast as a difference between bundled configurations rather than an isolated effect of any single design dimension. Using 1.47 million harmonised trip records (May 2018–March 2025), 26,744 active FFEBSS and 6519 active DBEBSS users, and spatial, concentration and regression models, we compare user characteristics, trip geometry, spatiotemporal patterns, weather sensitivity and productivity. The two systems show distinct signatures: the FFEBSS is regional and population-correlated (median straight-line trip 2.05 km, substantial cross-cantonal use), while the DBEBSS is compact and employment-correlated (1.44 km, nearly double per-user intensity, Gini 0.80 vs. 0.72). Restricting both to their common 2022–2024 window and the shared Basel-Stadt core narrows but does not remove the distance gap (median ratio 1.49 → 1.19 ), indicating a contrast that is partly mechanical and partly genuine. Both systems are strongly weather-sensitive, yet together account for under 0.3% of urban public-transport boardings, making system-wide PT replacement unlikely. Operational records alone cannot resolve trip purpose, modal substitution or equity mechanisms, but they generate concrete hypotheses for survey-linked follow-up.